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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.